Changing Seasons : May 2018

 

During May I relished all the autumn leaves, that we do not get on the Gold Coast, by going inland and visiting Tenterfield on the Great Dividing Range. Being almost 1000 metres above sea level they have a cooler climate than the sub tropical zone I live in and the trees were glorious. If you want another look go here.

But now winter is coming. In my garden the Snow Flake bush (Euphorbia leucocephala) signals the change of season with an exuberant display of white blossom, like phantom  flakes drifting across the sky.

Can you just see the splash of orange behind the bush? That is the last of the Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia).Notice it is double-headed and so is the one in the background, I’ve not had any like that before. Most of the tropical plants have now stopped flowering and bunkered down till the warm weather comes back.The frangipani has finally lost all its leaves and the bare branches reach for the sky.

But can you see the one brave bunch of fragrant flowers making a final curtain call before finally shutting down for winter.

This is where I tried to grow paper daisies, they were a failure, so out they came and went into the compost. Look what very quickly took over. These feral nasturtium seedlings will fill this gap up and make a vibrant display in spring. I am planning to put a native Correa in here. I have it in a pot at the moment (I know I said “no more pots”…) but as winter is the dry season I will wait till spring before putting it in.

The Bauhinia corymbosa is flowering yet again, it loves this west-facing fence and almost flowers all year brightening up the back garden. The rest of the garden has not changed much from last month (take a look here)

Our normal winter, June to August, has an average temperature range from night 10C to day 20C, no frosts but also very little rain and lots of sun.

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Su Leslie of “Zimmerbitch” is hosting a monthly challenge “changing seasons” were she invites you to share the changing seasons in your part of the world, or something that means May. Pop over to see the rules of this monthly challenge.